I was looking for a carbon fiber case for my Note 8 and bigmann77 pointed me towards Pitaka as something that may be along the lines of what I wanted. My goal was something that was thin, light, strong, and complimented the beautiful Note 8.
[Purchase]
Ordered the Pitaka Aramid Fiber Note 8 case and MagMount (Car Vent) MagCase for Samsung Galaxy Note 8 $39.11
MagMount (Car Vent) $14.87 (Not much to review, its a great little vent mag mount, but nothing more exciting than any of the others out there)
Shipping $0.00
Total $53.98
A few days later I received a discount via refund for the combo purchase (MagMount + MagCase) of 9.99
Grand total $43.99
[Shipping]
Direct from Singapore to Michigan, USA
Order was placed on 10/31/2017
Order shipped via DHL on 11/06/2017
Order delivered on 11/09/2017
Total days from order to delivery: 9
[Pictures]
Case pictures (without phone)
Case pictures (with phone)
[Review]
Appearance: It's absolutely stunning, the weave is perfectly done and the trimming is super precise. It looks exactly like I had expected it to, It reminds me a lot of the Ringke Slim I used to have on my S5, but even thinner.
This case is totally screen protector friendly, it barely touches any of the front glass.
Feel: It has a slight rubbery feel to it which is a major improvement over how slick the non-protected phone feels. It has a similar feel to a smooth TPU.
Buttons and ports: Everything is easily accessible, the cutouts are generous but precise. The top mic port is not perfectly centered and that is a tad annoying.
To give a better sense of how thin this is, the buttons are barely indented from the case and almost seem to be even with them. I got used to the rubber buttons from the Spigen Neo Hybrid that I had on there. This will take some time to get used to.
NFC, Wireless charging: Works perfectly, in fact a LOT better than with the Spigen case on there. I used to have to position it perfectly with the spigen to pick up and now it's a lot less sensitive.
I was able to use tap to pay at lunch and that also worked very well.
Magnetic mounts are working great now, it used to move a lot when I used a mag mount and a TPU case, with these imbeded plates it grabs instantly and holds strong.
Quality: Top notch - I cannot find any flaws in the build. This is defintely a high quality product and for this perfection alone I think this could actually command a higher price.
Protection: This case is strong, very strong. You really can't bend or flex it much unless you put some effort into it. While I would say that it offers little to no shock protection, it definitely will distribute the force well if it fell on the corners or back.
I feel that the Spigen probably protected it better, but I have nothing to back that up aside from the additional bulk that it offered versus this wafer thin aramid fiber.
Could be improved: It would be nice to have some sort of raised edge on the top and bottom, but perhaps it wouldnt look or feel as good as it does. I'm on the fence if that is an improvement.
[Overall Thoughts]
This is a great case for those who want a minimalist approach and is not rough with their phones. I am not willing to drop test it to see if it's as strong as they claim - but I wouldn't have done it with the other case I had either. What it has done for me is given me a better grip, protected the back from scratches and provided some additional strength to the corners without sacrificing the feel of the phone. I think this is as close as you can get to a bare phone while still offering a decent amount of additional protection.
This is the first case I have owned that has actually enhanced the look and feel and not just felt like I was childproofing it. I will be changing my habit of placing the phone face down even though I have a screen protector on it though and I do feel like I am being more gentle with it. Maybe that's because it's new to me or maybe that's just a better idea in general.
Have I ordered from this mfg before? No.
Would I order this product again? Yes - at least from initial impressions.
Planned additional purchases from Pitaka: MagMount QI
[UPDATE] They have provided me a coupon code to share, use Ken10 for 10% off.
I will update this thread after a month or so to see how it's held up.
[Purchase]
Ordered the Pitaka Aramid Fiber Note 8 case and MagMount (Car Vent) MagCase for Samsung Galaxy Note 8 $39.11
MagMount (Car Vent) $14.87 (Not much to review, its a great little vent mag mount, but nothing more exciting than any of the others out there)
Shipping $0.00
Total $53.98
A few days later I received a discount via refund for the combo purchase (MagMount + MagCase) of 9.99
Grand total $43.99
[Shipping]
Direct from Singapore to Michigan, USA
Order was placed on 10/31/2017
Order shipped via DHL on 11/06/2017
Order delivered on 11/09/2017
Total days from order to delivery: 9
[Pictures]
Case pictures (without phone)
Case pictures (with phone)
[Review]
Appearance: It's absolutely stunning, the weave is perfectly done and the trimming is super precise. It looks exactly like I had expected it to, It reminds me a lot of the Ringke Slim I used to have on my S5, but even thinner.
This case is totally screen protector friendly, it barely touches any of the front glass.
Feel: It has a slight rubbery feel to it which is a major improvement over how slick the non-protected phone feels. It has a similar feel to a smooth TPU.
Buttons and ports: Everything is easily accessible, the cutouts are generous but precise. The top mic port is not perfectly centered and that is a tad annoying.
To give a better sense of how thin this is, the buttons are barely indented from the case and almost seem to be even with them. I got used to the rubber buttons from the Spigen Neo Hybrid that I had on there. This will take some time to get used to.
NFC, Wireless charging: Works perfectly, in fact a LOT better than with the Spigen case on there. I used to have to position it perfectly with the spigen to pick up and now it's a lot less sensitive.
I was able to use tap to pay at lunch and that also worked very well.
Magnetic mounts are working great now, it used to move a lot when I used a mag mount and a TPU case, with these imbeded plates it grabs instantly and holds strong.
Quality: Top notch - I cannot find any flaws in the build. This is defintely a high quality product and for this perfection alone I think this could actually command a higher price.
Protection: This case is strong, very strong. You really can't bend or flex it much unless you put some effort into it. While I would say that it offers little to no shock protection, it definitely will distribute the force well if it fell on the corners or back.
I feel that the Spigen probably protected it better, but I have nothing to back that up aside from the additional bulk that it offered versus this wafer thin aramid fiber.
Could be improved: It would be nice to have some sort of raised edge on the top and bottom, but perhaps it wouldnt look or feel as good as it does. I'm on the fence if that is an improvement.
[Overall Thoughts]
This is a great case for those who want a minimalist approach and is not rough with their phones. I am not willing to drop test it to see if it's as strong as they claim - but I wouldn't have done it with the other case I had either. What it has done for me is given me a better grip, protected the back from scratches and provided some additional strength to the corners without sacrificing the feel of the phone. I think this is as close as you can get to a bare phone while still offering a decent amount of additional protection.
This is the first case I have owned that has actually enhanced the look and feel and not just felt like I was childproofing it. I will be changing my habit of placing the phone face down even though I have a screen protector on it though and I do feel like I am being more gentle with it. Maybe that's because it's new to me or maybe that's just a better idea in general.
Have I ordered from this mfg before? No.
Would I order this product again? Yes - at least from initial impressions.
Planned additional purchases from Pitaka: MagMount QI
[UPDATE] They have provided me a coupon code to share, use Ken10 for 10% off.
I will update this thread after a month or so to see how it's held up.
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